Friday, May 9, 2008

“Slang is a language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands, and goes to work” —Carl Sandburg

My neck is beginning to feel like Linda Blair's in the Exorcist. I'm experiencing writing whiplash due to the electronic and internet impact of changes in publishing...and sometimes life in general.

The new words added to dictionaries reveal how life and times change. The Random House Webster’s College Dictionary was the first dictionary to include "Internet" and "World Wide Web". Only their dictionary includes these words: B2BBazillionBleeding edgeCross-postDot-commerHotlinkHottieIdentity theftMicrobrowserMifeprexPush poll

A Look Back…The Merriam Webster Dictionary added these “new” words in 1806.Advocate, verb: to defend, plead in favor ofElectrician, noun: one versed in electricityPsychology, noun: the doctrines of spirit or mindCensus, noun: an enumeration of inhabitants, a register of people, etc.Constitutionality, noun: the state of being agreeable to the constitution, or of affecting the constitutionPresidential, adjective: pertaining to a presidentUnmarketable, adjective: not saleable or fit for the marketAmericanize, verb: to render AmericanCheckers, noun pl.: a gameImmigrant, noun: one who removes into a countryPenmanship, noun: the act, art, or use of writingSlang, noun: vulgar language, cant phrases [low]

How Hip Is Your Vocabulary?How many of the new words added to the 2006 Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary do you use?Mouse potato, noun, a person who spends a great deal of time using a computerRingtone, noun, the sound made by a cell phone to signal an incoming callGastric bypass, noun, a surgical bypass operation that typically involves reducing the size of the stomach and reconnecting the smaller stomach to bypass the first portion of the small intestine so as to restrict food intake and reduce caloric absorption in cases of severe obesitySoul patch, noun, a small growth of beard under a man's lower lipSupersize, verb, to increase considerably the size, amount, or extent ofDrama queen, noun, a person given to often excessively emotional performances or reactions

I don't want to be a drama queen, so I'll keep rolling up my sleeves, spitting on my hands, and putting my fingers to the keyboard.